EASTSOUND, Wash. – Stunning drone footage captured a pod of endangered Orca whales swimming in unison in the waters of Washington state.
The pod of over 20 Southern Residential killer whales was spotted spouting mist and breaching the surface of the Salish Sea near the San Juan Islands on Sept. 12.
(San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via Storyful / FOX Weather)
The rare caught-on-camera footage was taken by scientists from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. The Southern Resident killer whales are listed as an endangered population in 2005 under the Endangered Species Act, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fisheries.
The pod has been monitored by scientists representing a variety of organizations that monitored the group of killer whales throughout the month of September.
According to NOAA, Southern Residential killer whales spend several months of the summer and fall in the Puget Sound within the Salish Sea, which stretches past the coasts of Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia.
